The Beginnings of the of Church of Rome

The Origins of the Church at Rome

When Paul wrote his letter to Christians at Rome towards the end of his third missionary journey, he was communicating with what appears to be a firmly established collection of believers in that city. How did that collection of believers in Rome come into existence?  Sources indicate that before Christians emerged in Rome, Jews had already established a presence in the city. Inscriptions from Jewish catacombs and comments from literary documents open a window into the life, organization, and struggles of the Jews in Rome. The catacomb inscriptions have most recently been dated from the late second through the fifth centuries A.D. attest to the existence of at least five synagogues in Rome in the early first century. The language used in inscriptions suggests that many of the synagogues were in the poorer districts of the city. At the same time, in the inscriptions only leaders are identified in relation to their synagogues. Thus the Jews viewed themselves as a unified group.

Christianity’s Presence in Rome in the Time of Claudius

There are several important texts relating events in the reign of Claudius (41-54 AD) that prove beyond reasonable doubts, the origins of the church in Rome. Suetonius relates the following account during Claudius’s reign: “Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome.” Luke corroborated on this fact presented by Suetonius in Acts 18:2 “And he (Paul) found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, on account of Claudius commanding all the Jews to leave Rome.” Paul’s first encounter with Aquila and Priscilla can be dated to around 49 A.D. 49. Based on the event recorded in Acts 18:11-12 the couple’s arrival can likewise be located near 49 AD.

Christians in Rome as  described by Paul

Years after the expulsion of the Jews from Rome, Paul addresses Christians in the city. Once the whole letter of the Romans is admitted into evidence, we may attain a detailed picture of the condition of the Christians of Rome in the late 50’s. Accepting the integrity of the letter, the believers’ established history in the city is indicated (Rom 15:23), along with the presence of Christians who had believed before Paul had (Rom 16:7). The presence of these believers and the many others listed in Rom 16 adds further evidence for the development of Christianity in Rome in the years before Paul’s direct contact with the people there. Christians such as Prisca and Aquila had returned to Rome after having been banished from the city, while Christianity among the Gentiles had blossomed in the city, perhaps from even before Claudius’s edict. From Paul’s greetings in Rom 16, we can discern the existence of several gatherings of Christians in the city. Rom 16:3-4 speaks of the house church of Prisca and Aquila. Romans 16:10-11 may suggest that house churches are associated with these households. The references to other individuals throughout the chapter create possibilities of other Christian meetings in which these believers participated. The evidence points to the existence of at least three house churches, with the possibility of even more.

The Gospel’s Spread from Jerusalem to Rome

How Christianity made its way from Jerusalem to Rome? Peter took the helm of the small band of Christians after the Crucifixion and was the first apostle to perform a miracle. In Jerusalem and in later travels, he combined preaching the news about Jesus Christ with defending the faith in courts and settling squabbles among individuals and groups of believers. An especially important move for Peter was authorizing a missionary outreach to the gentiles. Acts 2:10 includes visitors from Rome in the list of people who witnessed the events of Pentecost. These temporary residents of Jerusalem may have taken the gospel back to Rome. Both Roman inhabitants who visited Jerusalem before returning to Rome and Jews who settled into Rome for the first time may have played a role.

Peter did not stay in Jerusalem for the rest of his life, although most of the other apostles did. He went on to Lydda in Palestine, and beyond. In Antioch he met with Paul and worked closely with him. There were also some Christians in Rome within a dozen years or so after the Pentecost, they were not the converts of Paul - Romans 15:20 (because Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his great letter in 57-58 AD). Peter was arrested and imprisoned more than once during those years, and then, miraculously, was set free. Peter “went to another place” – Acts 12:17 – Church tradition asserts that the place refers to Rome, where he preached and established their community around 42 AD. Eventually he became the first bishop of Rome and his ministry spanned 25 years. During the reign of  Nero (c. 54–68 AD), he was martyred. In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were among the victims. Peter died by crucifixion, although Peter insisted that he be hanged upside down on the cross, saying that he was not fit to die in the same way as his master. Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, Nero committed suicide in 68 AD at the age of 31. In the mid-second century AD, Irenaeus wrote about the founding role for Peter alongside Paul: “Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, laying the foundations of the Church.” Soon after, he refers to the “universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul.”

Wherever the Good News of Jesus was preached, it met the same opposition as Jesus Christ did, and many of those who began to follow him shared his suffering and death. But no human force could stop the power of the Spirit unleashed upon the world. The blood of martyrs has always been, and will always be, the seed of Christians.

Pope Clement I, third successor of St. Peter, writes:

“It was through envy and jealousy that the greatest and most upright pillars of the Church were persecuted and struggled unto death.... First of all, Peter, who because of unreasonable jealousy suffered not merely once or twice but many times, and, having thus given his witness, went to the place of glory that he deserved. It was through jealousy and conflict that Paul showed the way to the prize for perseverance. He was put in chains seven times, sent into exile, and stoned; a herald both in the east and the west, he achieved a noble fame by his faith....”

“Around these men with their holy lives there are gathered a great throng of the elect, who, though victims of jealousy, gave us the finest example of endurance in the midst of many indignities and tortures. Through jealousy women were tormented, like Dirce or the daughters of Danaus, suffering terrible and unholy acts of violence. But they courageously finished the course of faith and despite their bodily weakness won a noble prize.”

At this time, the Jews made up a substantial number in Rome, and their synagogues, frequented by many, enabled the Gentiles to become acquainted with the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Consequently, a church composed of both Jews and Gentiles was formed at Rome. According to Irenaeus, a 2nd century Church Father, the church at Rome was founded directly by the apostles Peter and Paul

Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity

In 312 CE Constantine was about to lead his army in a battle that would change the world. The soldiers of his enemy Maxentius faced him at the Milvian Bridge outside Rome. The winner would become the Roman Emperor. Constantine was a pagan who worshipped the sun, and he was worried about the coming battle. He says he started to pray to the "Supreme God" for help. There was a sign in the sky "above the sun" and with it the words "conquer by this". That night in a dream he said he saw Jesus telling him to use the chi-rho sign "as a safeguard in all battles". Constantine ordered it to be put on his soldier's shields - and won the battle. The symbol is made of the first two letters of 'Christ' in Greek - chi (X) and rho (P). The victory was celebrated by building a new triumphal arch in Rome. Although most people were still pagans, Christianity became the favored religion of the Roman Empire.

Things did not all change straight away. Constantine was taught about being a Christian, but he could still be ruthless and he did not get baptized until his old age. Constantine and his mother Helena, built great churches in the Holy Land to mark the places where Jesus was born, taught and was buried and then later, the Constantine’s new church in Rome. The Christian church asked for Constantine's help when there were problems. He called a meeting of Christian bishops at Nicaea in 325 AD that decided what a Christian was, and what Christians should believe.

Most of the Roman Emperors that came after Constantine were Christians. Under them Christianity became the official religion instead of the old Roman religion that had worshipped many gods and goddesses. Constantine also moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople - now Istanbul in modern Turkey.

In time even the great Roman temples, like the Pantheon in Rome, came to be used as churches. The buildings and church services became very grand to mark Christianity's power and importance.

Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity between the death of Jesus around year 30 and before the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The very first Christians - the Twelve Apostles and the 120 Disciples at Pentecost, etc. were all Jews or biblical proselytes, either by birth or by conversion, referred to by historians as the Jewish Christians.

The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians record that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included Peter, James, and John. Paul of Tarsus, after his conversion to Christianity, claimed the title of "Apostle to the Gentiles". Paul's influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than any other New Testament writer. As shown by the numerous quotations in the New Testament books and other Christian writings of the 1st centuries, early Christians generally used and revered the Jewish Bible as Scripture, mostly in the Greek (Septuagint) or Aramaic (Targum) translations. As the New Testament canon developed, the Letters of Paul, the Canonical Gospels and various other works were also recognized as scripture to be read in church. Early Christians demonstrated a wide range of beliefs and practices, many of which were later rejected as heretical.

In its early start, Christian groups and congregations were first organized loosely. During the time of Paul, although certain decisions by Elders and Apostles were binding, as in the Council of Jerusalem, there were no precisely delineated functions yet for bishops, elders, and deacons.  A Church hierarchy, however, have been developed by the late 1st century and early 2nd century. These structures were certainly formalized well before the end of the Early Christian period, which concluded with the legalization of Christianity  by Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 AD and the holding of the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD.

In the post-Apostolic church, bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations, and a hierarchy of clergy gradually took on the form of episkopoi (overseers), presbyteroi (elders), and diakonoi (ministerial servants). This hierarchy emerged slowly and at different times for different locations. Clement, a 1st-century bishop of Rome, refers to the leaders of the Corinthian church in his epistle to Corinthians as bishops and presbyters interchangeably. The New Testament writers also use the terms "overseer" and "elder" interchangeably and as synonyms. The Didache (dated by most scholars to the early 2nd century), speaks of "appointing for yourself bishops and deacons".

Disputes regarding the proper titles and roles of church leaders would later become one of the major causes of schism within the Christian church. Such disputes include the roles of bishops and presbyters. Churches such as the Catholic and Orthodox use the word "priest" of all the baptized, but apply it in a more specific sense ("ministerial priesthood") to bishops and presbyters and sometimes, somewhat loosely, treat "presbyter" and "priest" as synonyms, applying both terms to clergy subordinate to bishops. Post-apostolic bishops of importance include Polycarp of Smyrna, Clement of Rome, and Irenaeus of Lyons. These men reportedly knew and studied under the apostles personally and are therefore called Apostolic Fathers. Each Christian community also had presbyters, as was the case with Jewish communities, who were also ordained and assisted the bishop; as Christianity spread, especially in rural areas, the presbyters exercised more responsibilities and took distinctive shape as priests. Lastly, deacons also performed certain duties, such as tending to the poor and sick. In the 2nd century, an episcopal structure becomes more visible, and in that century this structure was supported by teaching on apostolic succession, where a bishop becomes the spiritual successor of the previous bishop in a line tracing back to the apostles themselves.

By the end of the early Christian period, the church within the Roman Empire had hundreds of bishops, some of them (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, "other provinces") holding some form of jurisdiction over others. Early Christianity spread from city to city throughout the Hellenized Roman Empire and beyond into East Africa and South Asia. The Christian Apostles, said to have dispersed from Jerusalem, traveled extensively and established communities in major cities and regions throughout the Empire. By the end of the 1st century, Christianity had spread to Greece and Italy, even India. In 301 AD, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to declare Christianity as its official religion, following the conversion of the Royal House of the Arsacids in Armenia. Despite sometimes intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin. There is no agreement on an explanation of how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan and the establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire. For some Christians, the success was simply the natural consequence of the truth of the religion and the hand of Providence.

Here we have presented the history of the Early Church from Jerusalem to Rome. Though there were many Christians all over the Mediterranean world, the Church of Rome became prominent among them